Haitham Mohamedeen

Haitham Mohamedeen is an activist and labor rights lawyer who has faced harassment and unwarranted detention throughout his lifetime. Most recently, he was detained for five months before being released.

On October 10, 2018, the Criminal Chamber of the Fifth Compound Courts Complex ordered the conditional release of Haitham Mohamedeen (also Haytham Mohamadeen), an activist and labor rights lawyer, who was arbitrarily detained for five months. Following the order for his release, Mohamedeen was disappeared from prison by the State Security Prosecution. For 18 days, his whereabouts and condition were not made known to his family or his lawyer.

Front Line Defenders notes that “this only one example of how the State Security Prosecution systematically bypasses judiciary rulings in Egypt; several human rights defenders who were released by court rulings have been disappeared from prisons.” Mohamedeen continues to face judicial harassment from the Egyptian government, requiring him to appear twice weekly to a police station on “precautionary measures.”

Mohamedeen was arrested from his home on May 16, 2018, but his location remained unknown until he was brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution on May 19, 2018. The prosecution ordered a 15-day detention period while he was investigated for charges of “joining a terrorist organization” and “inciting protests.” Mohamedeen was charged and continues to be harassed under case No. 718/2018—a case brought against 20 individuals involved in protests over a hike in metro fares. Reports note that Mohamedeen did not take part in these protests.

As a vocal activist, Mohamedeen has faced harassment and unwarranted detention by the Egyptian government throughout his lifetime. In 2016, he was arrested alongside 152 other activists and detained for six months for calling for protests over Egypt’s transferal of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. In 2013, he was arbitrarily detained at a military checkpoint while en route to meet with factory workers who requested his legal counsel. He was released after two days without charge or explanation.